From: nilknocgeo@earthlink.net   
      
   "Jishnu Mukerji"  wrote in message   
   news:HsWdnbg5f83W-uzOnZ2dnUVZ_qmdnZ2d@giganews.com...   
   > On 5/12/2014 3:17 PM, Marc Van Dyck wrote:   
   >> Sancho Panza laid this down on his screen :   
   >>> Nairobi (AFP) - China on Sunday signed a deal to build a $3.8 billion   
   >>> rail link between Kenya's Indian Ocean port of Mombasa and Nairobi,   
   >>> the first stage of a line that will eventually link Uganda, Rwanda,   
   >>> Burundi and South Sudan.   
   >>>   
   >>> Under the terms of the agreement, Exim Bank of China will provide 90   
   >>> percent of the cost to replace the crumbling British colonial-era line   
   >>> with a 609.3 kilometre (379 mile) standard-gauge link and Kenya the   
   >>> remaining 10 percent.   
   >>>   
   >>> Construction is due to start in October and take three-and-a-half   
   >>> years to complete, with China Communications Construction Co. as the   
   >>> main contractor. Once the Mombasa-Nairobi line is completed,   
   >>> construction would begin to link east Africa's largest economy with   
   >>> Kampala, Kigali, Bujumbura and Juba.   
   >>>   
   >>> The deal was signed at State House in Nairobi and witnessed by   
   >>> presidents Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Paul   
   >>> Kagame of Rwanda and Salva Kiir of South Sudan.   
   >>>   
   >>> "This project demonstrates that there is equal cooperation and mutual   
   >>> benefit between China and the East African countries, and the railway   
   >>> is a very important part of transport infrastructure development,"   
   >>> Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said.   
   >>> --http://news.yahoo.com/china-signs-mega-east-africa-rail-de   
   l-134536400.html;_ylt=AwrSyCSolW9TNFAAfNHQtDMD   
   >>>   
   >>>   
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   >>   
   >> I suppose the Chinese are still seriously after east african raw   
   >> materials.   
   >>   
   >> Remember that Chinese funds are also behind the TAZARA rail line   
   >> that connect Tanzania and Zambia, also in East Africa.   
   >>   
   >> On the other hand, given that the whole east african network is in   
   >> UK metric gauge, building this line on UIC gauge is really a mistake   
   >> in my opinion. This will remove all possible "network effets", which   
   >> is a shame, given that this link to Sudan is the last missing part in   
   >> the mythic "Cape to Cairo" rail line...   
   >   
   >   
   > Cape to Cairo line would already have a break in gauge between Cape   
   > Gauge and Meter Gauge. Even in Tanzania, TAZARA is Cape Gauge while   
   > there is over a thousand km of Meter Gauge too. TAZARA is Cape Gauge   
   > because Zambia and Zimbabwe are Cape Gauge just like South Africa.   
   >   
   > So the whole gauge thing is a mess as it is. Throwing in Standard Gauge   
   > doesn't make it any worse really since Egypt at the other end of Cape to   
   > Cairo is already Standard Gauge. Personally I think they should just   
   > convert the main corridors to Standard Gauge as is being done in many   
   > other parts of the world.   
   >   
      
   Would conversion to standard gauge be cheaper than just building a new line?   
      
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